China approves first COVID-19 vaccine from Sinopharm for general use

China on Thursday approved its first coronavirus vaccine for the general public, developed by an affiliate of the state-backed Sinopharm.

This announcement was made by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the state council on Thursday.

The approval of the inactivated, two-dose vaccine is coming a day after the vaccine’s developer, Beijing Biological Products Institute, a unit of Sinopharm subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG), on Wednesday, said it was found to be 79.3% effective in initial data from the final phase of testing in preventing people from developing the disease.

Read also: China confirms first case of UK COVID-19 variant

China plans to vaccinate 50 million people, in order to prevent the virus from spreading during the festivities, when hundreds of millions are expected to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Sinopharm is one of at least five Chinese developers that are currently developing vaccines for the novel coronavirus.

By Emmanuella Ibe…

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